Mutant Counterpart
by Princess Basketcase
Summary: R/G. Rogue is happy with Bobby. But when a serious mission comes up, Remy returns. They both get assigned in the same team, but will Rogue ever put the past aside? Meanwhile, St. John tries to hold his feelings back for a new recruit.
1. The Plan

A/N: Hey I'm starting a new fanfic, this time about X-Men, one of my all time favorite cartoons and movies. Well, I haven't written fanfics in a long time, and not to mention, no cable for over 2 months already (so I've been X-Men Evolution). Here's a summary.

Summary: It's the final fight of the X-Men against the Acolytes and the Brotherhood. The World of Mutants is getting dangerous by every moment. Professor Xavier is recruiting the most powerful mutants out there to keep them away from Magneto's plans. While recruiting the best Mutants out there, Xavier finds one last strong mutant, a girl who lives in the suburban neighborhoods of New York, Hailey Watts.

            Hailey Watts, a 15-year old girl who goes to an all-girls school has a lot to learn in Xavier's eyes. But conflicts rise as Magneto discovers her original mutant powers: a deafening voice, and accelerating speed during a trance. She gets in between Xavier and Magneto, and whichever side she lies, it's destiny for the world.

            But deep in the plot, the romance between Remy and Rogue begin to rise again as Remy returns. Remy is still deeply in love with her, but only drops of feelings are within her, and the rest goes to Bobby. Will they ever go back together? Or will she choose to go with Bobby and leave Remy for good?

Chapter 1 – The Plan

            A Monday morning in the X-Men mansion, and Professor X calls a meeting with the X-Men.

            "Hey, it's time to wake up." Said a voice. It was Jean. She had her red hear tied up and opened the windows to let the sunlight shine through.

            "Is there a meeting or something?" Rogue asked as she rubbed her eyes. She put on her black gloves as Jean explained.

            "Yeah. Professor X has called a meeting, said it was urgent." Jean replied. "Did you get a good sleep?"

            "Yeah it was alright. Still feel a little tired though." Rogue got up from the bed and went to get dressed. She then tied her hair up as her white strands of hair hung loose.

            "Come on, let's go." Said Jean as they left the room, heading to Professor X's office. On the way, they met up with Scott, Logan, and Bobby.

            "Hey good morning." Bobby smiled at Rogue.

            "Hey." She walked with him along the way. Once they got there, they met up with Ororo, Kurt, Kitty, Jubilee, and of course, Professor X. 

            "Good Morning everyone." He greeted.

            "Good Morning." Everyone greeted back.

            "Well, I apologize for making all of you wake up so early." He said as everyone either stood or sat as they listened. Bobby sat next to Rogue on the edge of the long conference table. "Anyways, I have news that will completely change our lives from this time on."

            "What's wrong this time Professor?" Logan asked.

            He took a deep breath. "It seems that the world of Mutants, is drawing to a final battle between good and evil. Mutants around country, appearing in everyday neighborhoods. And us, not knowing what they're capable of." Everyone remained silent as he continued. "Magneto, wants these Mutants to defeat us, to destroy us all, for good."

            "And how do we do this?" Scott asked.

            "We recruit." He said. "We recruit as many as we can find, the best, and the biggest threats. I will divide you into two groups, X-team one and X-team 2. But before dividing you, I'm going to introduce you to a former member of the X-Men, for some of you who don't know who he is or such."

            "A former member?" Ororo asked curiously. Everyone went clueless as they murmured their opinions.

            "Everyone, let's welcome back Remy LeBleau." Professor X said as a young man stepped out behind a door in his office. Rogue gasped and remained silent, staring at the handsome fellow.

            "You're back." Said Logan.

            "Yes I am Logan, you haven't changed." Remy smirked. Logan gave a weak smile giving him a friendly hug. Remy spotted Rogue sitting with Bobby, but ignored.

            "Welcome back Remy." Said Professor X.

            "With all do respect Professor, thank you for welcoming me back." Said Remy.

            "Glad to have you back Remy." Said Jean as she smiled. Suddenly, someone came in and barged through the door.

            "Sorry I'm late." Said the teen. It was John, or known as Pyro, his hair was standing up a bit, showing how he rushed from his room to Professor X's office.

            "Morning John." Professor X sighed. "In case you're wondering what you have missed, Remy has rejoined us."

            "Up all night have you?" Remy smirked.

            "Not really." John replied slowly.

            "Anyways, I will split you into two groups now to recruit the best mutants out there." Professor X looked at everyone's blank faces. "X-Team 1 will be, Cyclops, Jean, Rogue, Pyro, and Gambit." Everyone nodded their heads with agreement, except Rogue. "X-Team 2, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Jubilee, and Iceman." 

            "When are we going to start recruiting Professor?" Scott asked.

            "Tomorrow. You will use the X-Jets." Professor X explained. "I have some profiles here that are ready for recruiting. We have contacted their parents. For anymore discoveries, we will send you the information. Remember, travel during the night. The X-Jets are equipped with Camouflage mode, so you will not be seen, I trust you won't be seen." He opened up a drawer in his desk, and placed ten folders spread on the conference desk.

            Everyone took one folder, and opened it to see a profile of a soon-to-be new recruit. "Darwin Flemmings." Said Wolverine.

            "Ah, sixteen-year old Darwin. His powers are unimaginable, he can fly sky-high, with an ability to see beyond extraordinary distance." Everyone was impressed. "These are your mutant counterparts. Each of you, are responsible for these kids. They're all in their teens, I believe the youngest is a thirteen-year old."

            "Mayra Crytser, possesses the ability to crack objects moving or still." Said Ororo.

            "Do any of you have any questions?" Professor X asked.

            "Professor, how long do we have?" Jubilee asked.

            "At the most, three weeks. We cannot allow Magneto to take these innocent lives and poison them with his evil." He said with low tone. "If that's all there is, you are dismissed." They all began to exit the office as Jubilee opened the door. "John, please stay back, I need a word with you."

            As everyone left, John stayed back. "Yes Professor? If it's me being tardy…"

            "No John, please sit." John was clueless but took a seat anyway. "Read to me your counterpart."

            "Well," he opened the folder. "'Hailey Dana Lee-Fernandez Watts,' pretty long name," he muttered as Professor X raised an eyebrow at him. John cleared his throat as he continued, "'Age, fifteen and a half, weight, one-thirty, height, approximately five-four, and abilities…'" He looked to see if there were anymore info. "'During trance, has deafening voice and accelerating speed. More info to be looked upon.' I don't get it."

            "Your mutant counterpart's abilities are yet to be determined thoroughly. We have contacted Hailey's parents and they have explained about other minor abilities, which have to be looked upon." said Professor X. "Which include, immunity to fire."

            "You mean she can't be burned?" John asked curiously.

            "Precisely. Then now, you're about, eighteen now?" John nodded. "You're to help her deal with being a mutant. She knows all about her abilities, and most likely been told about us by her parents. She goes to an all-girls school here in New York, and seeing the lessons you have learned, this is your chance to bring up someone the right way around. You are now responsible for this girl. You may leave."

            "One question Professor," John said before getting off the chair. "Why do I have to deal with a girl?"

            "It wouldn't be a challenge for you if I gave you a boy to deal with." He replied.

            "Thanks." Said John as he left the office.

A/N: Replies please!!!


	2. Leaving Xavier Institute

A/N: Sorry for the misspelling of Remy LeBleau…it's Remy LeBeau. Hehe. Oh yeah, and Kitty will be joining X-Team 2…sorry forgot about her. Thanks for the reviews!! I really appreciate it!!!

Chapter 2 – Leaving Xavier Institute

            "I don't know why he's back," said Rogue as Jean was cleaning up the trash in her closet. "He's just making everything so…"

            "Complicated?" Jean smiled as Rogue nodded. "Yup, heard that before. You know, I was talking to him after the meeting."

            "What did he say this time?" she asked.

            "Oh, just that he misses you…"

            "That's bullshit!" Rogue yelled.

            "Rogue! Let me finish! I saw that coming…" said Jean as she pulled out some shoe boxes. "He said that facing you again would be the only way to find out who he really loves. Give him a break Rogue, he's been through a lot since he left, and he's been feeling really down after seeing you with Bobby."

            Rogue sighed as she thought of her past with Remy. "I…just can't accept him you know."

            "Don't worry, I know what you mean." Jean smirked.

            "Sure, of course you do." Said Rogue staring at Jean.

            Meanwhile, John was talking to Remy in John' room. "How long have you been in the institute?"

            "About eight months, it was a big decision staying here, worth it actually. Coming back has been great." He said as he began packing early for tomorrow.

            "Well, we're on the same team, so who's your counterpart?" he asked.

            "This girl, Hailey Watts, she has a long name though." He stuffed in a pair of jeans. Remy opened the folder to look at her picture, and closed it right after.

            "Got some pretty girl there eh?" Remy taunted him.

            "Hey, this girl's my responsibility. If something happens to her, I'm dead. So if even get an inch involved with this chick, everything's history." Said John as he zips up his baggage. "So have you tried talking to Rogue?"

            "Nah." Said Remy as he looked out the window to find Rogue walking with Bobby as they talked. "Looks like she's always occupied."

            "Not to worry, you'll have time once we start recruiting. Luckily Bobby's not in our team, or else you wouldn't have a chance to even say anything to her." John raised his eyebrows.

            "Yeah…" Remy sighed. "I wanna check out the institute for a while."

            "Hey hold on, I don't want to be stuck here doing nothing." John followed him as they walked along the halls and downstairs.

            "This place is bigger than I thought." Said Remy looking at the kids walking through the halls, and even some, showing off their powers. "So what got you into coming back here?"

            "Oh. I actually got convinced by Professor X to control myself. I know I was a cocky son-of-a-bitch, but coming back here, changed everything." Said John as they continued walking. "Of course, it feels good now that all of that's past me now that I've seen even more extraordinary powers from these kids here." He looked at the little eight-year olds turning into animals. 

            "Damn kids, where do they get these powers?" Remy looked at the kids in the corner impressively as a boy evaporated the orange juice and put it in another cup.

            They walked outside to the courtyard, where they found Rogue and Bobby sitting on a bench talking. "Well what are you two lovebirds doing out here?" asked John smirking.

            "Oh come on St. John cut the crap." Said Rogue rudely.

            "Jeez, just trying to spark some conversation." Said John as an awkward silence followed. "Well, we'll just be going along, leaving you two alone…" They walked away quietly.

            "What's up with him?" Bobby wondered.

            "Oh." Rogue thought about Remy. "Nothing. Just being a jerk as usual." 

            "Man what is wrong with you?!" Frustratingly John said. "There was that whole silence given to you from my damn heart for you to at least say a 'Hey honey, how you been?' or a simple 'Hello Rogue, see you've been busy.'"

            "Okay you see the second one wouldn't be all welcoming." Corrected Remy.

            "Hey, you could've said something, that's all that matters." Said John as they came across Evan Daniels on his skateboard. "Hey what's up with the scar?"

            Evan has a huge scar on his arm from his palm to his elbow, which looked like a huge cat scratch. "Oh that, Quicksilver. Almost had him."

            "Yeah…sure." Said John. "Oh yeah, this is…"

            "Remy LeBeau…" said Remy as he stuck out his hand. "If you're against me, it's Gambit."

            "Oh hey! I'm Evan Daniels, I'm Aunt Ororo's nephew. Spike if you want to call me by that." Evan shook his hand vigorously. "Heard stuff about you!"

            "Stuff?" Remy wondered.

            "Yeah…" Evan looked around to see if everyone was around. He began to whisper, "You're the guy that Rogue was talking about one time aren't you?"

            "Rogue, was talking about me?" Remy's eyes widened.

            "Yeah she did once. Saying how you were her ex-boyfriend, had some good times, but she refused to go on talking about you." Evan shrugged.

            "So she did…" Remy thought.

            "Well, nice meeting ya. See ya around." He got on his skateboard and skated through the hall, where he got caught be Logan.

            "HEY KID! NO SKATING IN THE INSTITUTE!!!" Yelled Logan. "I'm gonna rip that board if I see that again!!"

            John shook his head. "No matter how many times, he never did rip it off."

            "Why not?" Remy asked.

            "Cause Ororo's going to have a cow if he does." John grinned evilly. Remy chuckled. 

            The next morning, everyone woke up early to leave the institute. Everyone loaded their belongings onto the x-jets, and said their brief goodbyes.

            "You better be good." Said Ororo to Evan.

            "You worry to much Aunt Ororo." Evan smirked.

            "I'm warning you, or I'll let Logan slice that board of yours." Ororo lifted her eyebrow. Evan knew she was serious. She kissed his forehead as they said farewell.

            "Well, I'll see you back in three weeks." Said Bobby as he held Rogue's glove-covered hands. 

            "Don't worry about me. You take care of yourself, I love you." Rogue smiled as they shared a kiss in front of Remy.

            "Why isn't he suffocating like a donkey?" Remy looked at the two kissing.

            "They learned to control their powers, she even breathed out cold air once." Said John as they got into the X-Jet. There they met up with Scott and Jean.

            "You two ready for this?" Scott asked.

            "Everything's under control." Remy smirked.

            "Same old huh?" Jean laughed.

            "See you haven't either." Remy raised his eyebrows at her. Scott shook his head.

            "Have you talked to…" Jean elbowed Scott as Rogue came in. 

            "Hey." Jean smiled.

            "Hi." Rogue responded as she past right by Remy. She sat down in one of the seats alone. The X-Jet soon closed up and Scott and John took control in the cockpit.

            "Aww come on…" Remy complained.

            "You've gotta face her and now's the time!" John whispered as he urged Remy to go and talk to her. 

            He walked slowly towards her, but Jean came in and sat in a chair beside her. Remy walks away as Jean begins to talk to her.

            "Hey, you okay?" Jean asked with concern.

            "Oh I'm alright." Said Rogue as she leaned her face on her hands.

            "Doesn't look like it." Said Jean as she tried to roll out the truth. Jean looked at Remy for him to leave, and getting the signal, Remy left to join the boys. "Come on, what's bothering you? Is it the fact that Bobby's not here?"

            Rogue sighed. "Yes…no…not only that?" Rogue looked at her Jean's confused face. "I don't know what I'm feeling."

            "Are you sure? You can let it out." Jean tried to cheer her up, although she knew partly what she was thinking. 

            They had already took off ground, and had been flying for nearly five minutes already. Rogue stood up from the chair and looked around. "It's just…why did Remy have to come back? Everything was fine till he came."

            "What about him makes it so hard?" Jean wondered.

            "It just feels…like something that was missing in my heart came back, but there's no more space."


	3. Jasmine Hanks

A/N: Hey thanks for the reviews!!! Oh yeah, I was wondering if there was an X-men named Siren? It sounds familiar, but I forgot what was her role…anyways, here's chapter 3!!!

Chapter 3 – Jasmine Hanks

            Rogue exhaled as if she was shocked. "Do…you still…" Jean asked slowly.

            "I don't know. I don't think I even want to know." Said Rogue as she went over to look out into the view.

            Suddenly, the three boys came out of the cockpit. "So exactly where are we going first?" John asked.

            "Did you set it on auto-pilot? Camouflage?" Jean asked.

            "Yeah. All set." Said Scott. Remy saw Rogue looking out the window. Something inside of him just wanted to go over and talk to her, at the same time, he didn't want to.

            Remy coughed. "So, how long till we get to our first stop?"

            "Umm…" Scott looked at the map set on the table. "Well we're going to New Jersey for our first two recruits, and that should take about an hour at this rate."

            "Well we'll have to discuss on how to pick them up, they can't always be sitting in their living room waiting for us." Said Jean.

            "Jean's right, who knows they could be walking around the mall by the time we get there." John shrugged.

            "Are any of us going to be left behind?" Remy asked. Suddenly, Rogue looked over her shoulder.

            "Yeah. We need at least 2 people to keep guard of the jet." Scott looked to see if anyone was willing. "Well?"

            "I'll stay." Said Rogue out of the silence.

            "Uhh…um" Remy choked.

            "Oh you could stay with Rogue, keep her company." Scott suggested. "I think we'll need some fire dealing with our counterparts…"

            "Well that's if you want." Jean reminded him. 

            Remy looked at Rogue, but she looked away to avoid his eyes. "Um, sure. Why not?"

            "That's settled, in one hour, the three of his change to casual clothing, while you two keep guard of the jet." Said Scott. Remy heard the soft chuckle from John, but ignored it.

            "In that case, I'll be sleeping until we get there." Said Remy as he went through the door near cockpit to one room of the sleeping quarters. There he took off his jacket, and lay on the bed looking up at the bottom of the top bunk. He thought of the times he had spent with Rogue, good times, and bad. But as he went deeper in his memories, he fell asleep.

            "Hey…wake up." A voice called.

            "Shut up…" Remy groaned.

            "Did you just tell me to shut up?!" The voice said angrily. Remy opened his eyes to find Jean staring him down. "It's been an hour. Get up."

            "Sorry about that." Said Remy as he took his jacket and put it on. He went outside to find Scott and John wearing casual clothes like Jean. 

            "Alright you two, we're going to be downtown so don't expect us to be quick. We're first going to find Jasmine Hanks, a seventeen-year old average girl, if you're not counting her mutant powers. But she's just a pushover, finding Richard Matthews will be hard though, an elusive seventeen-year old is not the best thing." Said Scott as he read the profiles of the counterparts.

            "So we're carrying with us mini-communicators. We'll contact you when we need help or to check on you guys." Jean reminded them. "Whatever you do, don't get distracted, keep your eyes out."

            "That shouldn't be hard…" John smirked.

            "Shut up." Said Rogue. "Sure thing, we'll keep an eye out."

            "Two eyes." Remy corrected.

            "Well, at the most, we'll be back in two hours." Said Scott as he looked at his watch. "Come on you guys, let's get some recruits." They exited the jet as the two were left in an awkward silence. Before either one of them were to say a word, Rogue walked away and sat on a couch near the window.

            Remy sighed as he sat in one of the chairs of the long table with the map on it. He wanted to talk to her so badly, but he didn't know how.

            Meanwhile, Scott, Jean, and John were on the city streets, looking for the right location. "It should be around this corner…" Jean kept looking at the name of the street.

            "Was it Allison Street?" John asked as he looked up at the signs.

            "Um," Jean looked at the profile of Jasmine. "Yeah, 429, Carmen James' Apartments, Allison Street."

            "It's right there." Said Scott as he read a sign on about a twenty-floor building.

            "This is it…come on." Jean took a deep breath as they entered the building.

            "Good morning ma'am, how can I help you?" the clerk asked.

            "Um we're here to visit the Hanks." Jean answered.

            The clerk nodded as she looked through her visitors list. "And your name?"

            "Jean Grey." She replied.

            "Oh I see. Go on Ms. Grey, go on the elevator to the 4th floor. Room 429 should be on the right." She smiled.

            "Thank you very much. Have a good day." Jean returned a smile back as she said thanked her. The clerk winked at John, but John didn't react.

            "She likes you." Scott taunted as they pressed the 4th floor button on the elevator.

            "Shut up, she's not my type." John said quickly. Suddenly, they stopped at the 4th floor and exited the elevator. 

            "She said right…" Scott said as they to the right and looked for room 429. "Here it is, room 429."

            Jean knocked on the door and waited for a response. "Who is it?" A woman called.

            "Um this is Jean Grey, from the Xavier Institute." Jean answered. The door opened, showing a short woman with dark hair and blue eyes.

            "Xavier Institute?" she asked. Jean nodded. "Oh yes, come in. I'm Mrs. Josephine Hanks. Please sit down while I get Jasmine. Wait here." She pointed on the couch.

            "Nice apartment they got here." Said John as he sat down. In five minutes, the woman came back with a teenage girl about her height with short light brown hair. She had dark brown eyes, and had a look that she knew they were coming.

            "Hi. I'm Jean, you must be Jasmine?" Jean smiled.

            "Yes. I had a feeling we would have visitors today." Jasmine smiled.

            "Um Mrs. Hanks, is Mr. Hanks around?" Jean asked.

            "Oh yes, he will be coming home soon for lunch break." The woman sat with her daughter on the opposite couch.

            "Well, do you mind telling us what your daughter does?" Jean asked.

            "Uh, you see, my husband is a psychologist and well, he says it's what you call, telekinesis." She replied unsurely.

            "Oh." Jean said surprisingly with a chuckle. "I could do some myself. Um Jasmine, do you mind showing me what you can do?"

            "Sure." Jasmine smiled. She looked for an item in the room, and spotted a pitcher filled with juice beside her mother. She focused her eyes on the pitcher and the pitcher had levitated off the cart, then maneuvered around for a bit, and poured some juice into John's glass. Then the pitcher levitated back to the cart where it came from.

            "Thank you." Said John as he drank his juice.

            "Your welcome." She smiled. Suddenly, a man with dirty blonde hair and gray eyes came in. He was tall, and was wearing a white long-sleeve shirt with a blue tie and slacks.

            "Oh I'm sorry to be so late." He apologized. "Forgive me, I'm Arthur Hanks." He shook their hands nervously and sat on Jasmine's left.

            "Oh where are my manners, I'm Jean Grey, this is Scott Summers, and this is John Allerdyce. We're from the Xavier institute." Jean smiled.

            "Well, I see you've met Jasmine, and my wife Josephine." Said Mr. Hanks. "Anyways, let's get down to business. Now, can you explain to me how this institute works?"

            "Well of course Mr. Hanks," said Scott. "You see, we recruit gifted adolescents like Jasmine here, to the institute. Professor Xavier doesn't reject anyone, he's willing to teach your child no matter what."

            "You can put it this way I guess, it's like a boarding school in a way. But not to worry, dormitories are strictly protected. Facilities are very trustable and durable, and you may talk to your child throughout the year. There are also arranged events in which you can visit your child at the institute."

            Jasmine was getting excited. Her parents were pleased with what has been said. "And finally, Professor Xavier teaches your child to use their gifts in good ways. Education and moral lessons is always number one in academics in the institute. Others like Scott, John, and myself here, are there to supervise the students and make sure they are doing well."

            "Wow, I'm impressed." said Mrs. Hanks. "This institute sounds very welcoming, now it's up to my daughter, if she's willing to go."

            Meanwhile at the X-Jet…

            Rogue still sat on the couch by the window, staring blankly at her boots. Remy, was just walking back and forth thinking what to say. Finally, he had the guts to say something.

            "Rogue…" Remy said nervously. He sat in the chair beside the couch. Without even looking at him, she responded with an "hm."

            Remy sighed as she paid no attention to him. Once more, he tried again. "Rogue." He took a deep breath. "Why don't you talk to me?"

            Surprisingly, she spoke, still her eyes on her boots. "I'm talking to you already. What more can you ask for?"

            "To look at me while you're talking." He cleared his throat. "Is that hard?" Rogue kept her head down. Her head was slowly tilting upwards, but instead she stood up and faced the window. She then saw the reflection of his tender face on the window. "Rogue?"

            "What if I don't wanna look at you? It's not like it's a medicine to keep me going!" She yelled. 

            Remy took got over his nerves and stood behind her, where he could see her face on the window, as well as his. "It's just a reflection Rogue, not the real thing."

            "I…I don't wanna look at the real thing." She said stubbornly.

            "Close your eyes." He whispered in her ear. She trembled at the breath behind her neck, but closed her eyes anyway. He turned her around to face him. "Go on, open your eyes." She breathed and opened her eyes slowly. There she saw the real tender face, not just the reflection on the window. She stared into his eyes and exhaled deeply.

            "Hello Gambit." She said.

            "Well that's settled." Said Mr. Hanks. "Go on honey, go get your stuff."

            "Thank you so much for helping us. Jasmine has been excited about going to school there in New York." Mrs. Hanks smiled.

            "It's our pleasure." Jean hugged Mrs. Hanks.

            "Well, it's been packed!" Jasmine smiled as she carried a backpack, and a roller luggage.

            "Here I'll get that." Scott took her roller luggage.

            "Well, I love you guys." Jasmine hugged and kissed her parents.

            "You take care of yourself honey." Mr. Hanks nodded.

            "Call anytime if you need us." Her mother reminded.

            "Of course mom. Bye." They saw her daughter smiling till they shut the door.


	4. A Visit

Chapter 4 – A Visit

            "Rogue…" he whispered. He saw her gentle eyes staring back into his.

            "Gambit…was your name." Her eyes became watery.

            "Please…"

            "No. To me, you'll always be Gambit, not anyone else." His face was so close to hers, but she fought the temptation of getting any closer. She walked away and went to the table. She pressed the switch, to reveal a speaker on the corner.

            "This is John." The voice came out of the speaker.

            "Hey, where are you guys?" Rogue asked.

            "We're on our way back to the jet." He answered.

            "Alright. Don't take too long." Said Rogue.

            "Is it suffocating in there?" he joked.

            "Shut up." She hung up. In about five minutes time, they arrived.

            "Hey you two, let's welcome our newest recruit, Jasmine Hanks." Scott let her through first.

            "This is Marie Wood." Jean introduced her.

            "Please, call me Rogue. But if you insist, you can call me Marie." She smiled.

            "And this is Remy LeBeau, Gambit if you're his enemy of course." Jean showed her the handsome guy by the window.

            "Welcome. Hope you like it here, and in the institute." He smiled.

            "Here, I'll show you where you're going to rest." Rogue smiled.

            "Thanks." She returned a smile. She followed Rogue through the automatic door near the cockpit and into another room. "If you don't mind me asking, is there something troubling you?"

            Rogue looked at her strangely. "Please don't tell me you're like Jean."

            "I'm sorry…what if I just said I have almost the same abilities?" she apologized.

            "I guess that's okay. Well, for a recruit, you're good at this. Yes, something is troubling me." Rogue sighed.

            "Don't worry, I won't ask anymore." Jasmine put her bags aside.

            "Thank you." Said Rogue. "Well, I'm going outside to meet with the rest." She left her in the room as she unpacked.

            "Hey Rogue, get over here." Scott called. 

            "What's up?" she wondered.

            "Well, Jean's got her counterpart already, we've got four more to go." He said. "Which means, I'm going next."

            "So who's staying this time?" Rogue asked.

            "My counterpart is well, pretty much elusive. And it's a guy thing, no offense to you ladies, it's just this is a man to man thing." Said Scott.

            "Your point?" Rogue wondered.

            "I'm taking Remy with me. I'll leave John with the both of you." Scott answered.

            "You're leaving me with girls?!" John complained.

            "What a wuss…" Rogue muttered.

            "Hey don't worry, they don't bite…hard." Remy chuckled.

            "Funny." John said plainly.

            "In that case, we're going now to get a head start." Scott said. "We got our communicators…"

            "Sure thing. Good luck." Jean waved as they left the jet.

            "So who's the kid?" Remy asked as they walked down the streets.

            "Richmond Sawyer, eighteen. This kid can burn any metal you give him, even with just a tip of his finger."

            "Impressive. So what's the difficulty of recruiting him?" Remy asked.

            "Let's put it this way, his dad left him two years ago." Scott replied.

            "Harsh. He took it really hard huh?"

            "Yup. His dad had a problem with him being a mutant. So his mother kept it on low profile, till Professor contacted her. This kid's gone through a lot."

            "Taxi!" Remy yelled at a driver. The cab pulled over.

            "Where to?" he asked.

            "5th Boulevard, Central District." Scott closed the door shut.

            "I bet you thirty dollars they'll come back before two hours." John smirked at Rogue.

            "You're kidding, they'll take the whole night if they wanted." Rogue laughed as she got a book from her bag.

            "Come on, thirty bucks, I need money." He stuck out his hand. Rogue eyed him suspiciously.

            "Fine, thirty bucks." Rogue shook his hand as Jean came in with Jasmine.

            "What are you two betting on?" she asked.

            "That Scott and Remy will come back before two hours." Said John.

            "You better have money in your pocket." Jean smirked.

            "Okay you can drop us right here." Scott told the driver as they pulled over in the corner. "Thanks." He paid him as they got off the cab.

            "Apartment or what?" Remy wondered.

            "Not so sure." Scott lead him to an apartment just halfway to the next stop light. "This should be it." He knocked on the door.

            "Yes may I help you?" a fair skinned woman with medium height opened the door.

            "Um, are you Mrs. Sawyer?" Scott asked.

            "Yes, are you from the institute?" she asked.

            "Yes Ma'am." He replied.

            "Ah, I thought so. Please, come in." She opened the door wider and led them to the living room. She quickly brought out some snacks. She then noticed that Scott was still wearing his 'shades.' "Oh dear, you can remove your sunglasses. It's not bright in here."

            "Um, it's okay Mrs. Sawyer. I have to wear these, for my eyes." Scott smiled.

            "Oh. Well, don't mind me, just a little worried." She then sat down in front of them. "So, we have to talk about my son isn't it?"

            "Yes Mrs. Sawyer, is he here?" Scott asked.

            "He should be arriving any minute, he has art classes." She looked at her watch.

            "Art classes?" Remy wondered.

            "Yes, to keep his mind off things that just make his day go bad." She replied. "Nothing like a lefty doing art."

            "If you don't mind us asking, has your son been burning metals for quite a long time?" Scott asked.

            She gave a weak smile. "Well, you'll soon find out sooner or later." She sighed. "You see, my husband always worked in the construction site. And boy, my son always loved hanging out around there since he was maybe seven. Then, when he turned sixteen, high school life really affected him. People would make fun of him out of just a simple little mistake. And, he'd be so mad that he had to release his anger somehow. So one day, I was talking to my husband in his office, and we saw Ricky outside near the new shipment of pipes. We knew something was troubling him, and suddenly, we just saw him holding the metal pipe, and it melted in his hands. It didn't even hurt him." She took a deep breath. "Once my husband kept noticing how he could do extraordinary things, he felt like he was an abnormal kid, someone not worth paying for. And he left." Tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke.

            "I'm sorry." Remy said.

            "It's alright, what's gone is what's gone." She said as she wiped her eyes. Suddenly, a teenage boy walked in with a gray backpack walked in. He was tall, had deep blue-green eyes, and had dark spiked hair. "Oh honey, just in time. You remember the institute I told you about?"

            "Yeah. What about?" he wondered as he put his bag down.

            "Well, we have some visitors from the institute to talk to you." She smiled.

            "I'm Scott Summers." He shook Ricky's hand.

            "And I'm Remy LeBeau." He shook his hand too.

            "Ricky, you're familiar with the Xavier Institute right?" Scott asked.

            "Yeah, my mom's told me about it." He replied.

            "It's passed almost an hour…" Rogue chuckled.

            "They'll be here, you'll see." Pyro nodded his head. Suddenly, a knock was on the door.

            "Did you hear that?" Jean asked.

            "Hear what?" Rogue and Pyro said together.

            "That knock." The knock was heard again, this time by all of them.

            "It can't be Scott and Gambit, it just can't be." Said Rogue.

            "You're broke aren't you?" John laughed.

            "Rogue's right, it can't be them. And it's not the bet, I feel something…" Jean said slowly. "John, you think you can go up on the roof and check who it is?"

            "Sure." Said John.

            "I'll go check on Jasmine. Rogue, keep your eyes peeled." Rogue nodded as Jean went in to get Jasmine. John went up the ladder opposite the sleeping quarters near the cockpit, opening a squared latch on the roof. He got up and on the roof of the jet. He slowly crawled to see who was in the door. As he slowly peeked, OUCH.

            "Well isn't this a pleasant surprise…" A young man jumped up onto the jet and met face-to-face with John. "St. John...."

            "What do you want Pietro?" John asked.

            "Oh nothing…just my dad has…well, let's say he's still pissed that you quit on him." He smirked. "That goes for old Remy too."

            "Things like that never change. If you're looking for Spike…"

            "Don't worry, I'm not looking for that ass." He smirked. "You know something, and we want it."

            "What?" John gave him a bad look.

            "Oh let me make things a bit easier, instead of it, let's just say, her." He grinned evilly. Before John got to speak, "Oh come on, you know who I'm talking about. You in particular should know…"

            "Shut up." John curled his hand to a fist.

            "Don't make it so hard on yourself, you know about dear Hailey." Pietro laughed. "Just tell me where she is, and we'll leave you alone."

"Where's John?" Jean asked as she came with Jasmine. 

            "I think he's up on the roof, having an unfriendly conversation." Rogue said worriedly.

            "I need to call Scott." Jean ran to the table to contact Scott.

            "It's Scott." He answered.

            "Scott!!! You better get here quick!!! I think we got someone from the Brotherhood talking to John up on the roof!!!"

            "Brotherhood?!" Scott wondered. "We'll be right there."

            "What is wrong?" Mrs. Sawyer asked.

            "I'm sorry, but we'll give you more time to think about going to the institute, right now, we have to go back to check on our fellow friends." Scott apologized.

            "Take me with you." Ricky said suddenly.

            "You serious kid?" Remy asked.

            "Yeah. I'm willing to go." He stuttered a bit.

            "Is that okay with you?" Mrs. Sawyer asked Scott.

            "Yeah…sure. Go get your things, we gotta go now." Scott nodded. Ricky ran up the stairs and in less than two minutes, he was back with his belongings all packed.

            "I love you honey. Take care." She kissed her son.

            "I love you too mom. I'll call you." He smiled as they left his house.

            "Taxi!!!" Remy yelled.

            "Come on, just one place name and we'll leave you guys alone." He said.

            "One place name…up your ass." John smirked. He threw a fireball at Pietro, which missed him barely. Pietro ran towards him in a split second and gave him a hard punch in the face. He was about to throw another punch, but John had caught his fist just in time and began to burn his hand.

            "Awww shit!!" Pietro let go. "You better watch your back!" He jumped back down and dashed through the streets instantly. About thirty seconds later, Scott and Remy arrived with Ricky.

            "St. John!!" Remy yelled. 

            John wiped the blood dripping from his lip. "What?!" Scott shook his head as they met inside.

            "Okay what the hell happened to you?" Scott wondered.

            "Quicksilver." John responded as he took the ice pack from Jean. "Thanks."

            "What does he want? Spike's not here." Jean crossed her arms.

            "Magneto's got something in for my counterpart, and he sent out his son to do the bloody work." Said John.

            "I knew something like this was going to happen." Jean sighed.

            "You think we should call the Professor?" Remy asked.

            "You're right." Scott pressed the button on the speaker and waited for an answer.

            "Yes X-Team one?" he answered.

            "Professor, Quicksilver paid us a visit. Seems like his dad wants something from John." Said Scott.

            "Just as I thought." He sighed. "Scott, how many counterparts have you picked up so far?"

            "Just two. Jasmine Hanks and Ricky Sawyer." He replied.

            "Listen to me. Recruit them as fast as you can, but keep John's counterpart last. Magneto will try to track you down, don't take Hailey next, it's much to dangerous." Said Professor Xavier. "You keep those recruits safe, don't let Magneto get to them, don't ever."

            "Yes Professor." Scott nodded.

            "All of you have to be careful, you don't know if someone may be watching you." He said.

            "Alright Professor." Scott turned off the speaker.


	5. A Close Kiss

A/N: Here comes chapter 5!! Please review because I really need to know if there are people still reading my fanfic!!! If there aren't any…I shouldn't continue. Well anyways, sorry it took so long to post this up…too many things have been cramming up my schedule!!

Chapter 5 – A Close Kiss

            The next morning, the team woke up early to plan out the day. Scott was on the line with Professor Xavier, as everyone else waited patiently.

            "That was the worst sleep I ever had." John complained.

            "Cramps?" Jean wondered.

            "Nah, he fell off the bunk." Remy smirked.

            "Good job." Rogue laughed.

            "Okay people." Scott interrupted. "Our next stop is in Pittsburgh to pick up Rogue's counterpart. Remy, you'll be going with Rogue while Jean, John, and I will be keeping watch."

            "Sure thing." Remy nodded. "I'll be in the room for the meantime." He left the conference as John followed. "DAMMIT!!!"

            "It's Rogue huh?" John asked.

            Remy sat down and thought hard. "Why is she like this? That wasn't the Rogue I knew…"

            "She's changed…a lot." John leaned against the wall.

            "It's all that dumbass Bobby huh? What the hell does he do to her?" Remy wondered as he punched a pillow.

            "Besides making out constantly, I really don't know. I just start passing by while they're together and Rogue chases the hell out of me to go away." Said John. "Come on man, if you really love and care for her that much, don't let Bobby get in the way. If I'm not mistaken she still thought about you till he came along."

            "I don't know…but there's one thing that bothers me a hell lot…" Remy thought.

            "What now?" John wondered.

            "Whatever happened to her accent?!" Remy asked.

            "Damn…never really thought about that…" John shrugged.

            About an hour later, Scott knocked on the door.

            "What's up?" asked Remy.

            "If you want to catch up with Rogue, I suggest you get out now." Scott smirked.

            "She left?!" Remy stood up.

            "Just about ten minutes ago…we thought she was in the bathroom but damn…no one stays that long in the bathroom." Scott said. Remy got up and before he passed Scott, "Here's the keys to my bike. Oh, and try not to get it dirty, the extra compartment is attached to the bike."

            Remy went to the garage and got on Scott's bike. It had the extra compartment attached for another passenger, which Remy thought was quite amusing. "Okay…where's the damn locator?" He pressed a button and small radar appeared in front of him. It showed a map and a red dot with the name ROGUE beside it. "Hey there honey…" he smirked as he opened the garage entrance and out he went.

            "That loser can't even keep up, why should I be stuck with him anyway?" Rogue thought as she was walking up the street. Suddenly, she heard a familiar noise of a motorbike.

            "Hey darlin'!" Remy laughed. Rogue continued walking as she ignored him. "Come on Rogue, you can't get there without a little help…"

            "I don't need your help!" Rogue ran off as fast as she could. At the same time, a man from the alley was chasing after her. He eventually caught up and grabbed Rogue's backpack. He kept running farther as Rogue was running out of breathe. 

            "Hey!" Remy yelled as he caught up with Rogue. "Get on!" He grabbed Rogue by the waist as she sat behind him on the bike. "Hold on to me!" Rogue hesitated but wrapped her arms around Remy's waist as he went on full speed. They eventually found the guy down a street. "Now's your chance!"

            As he slowed down a bit, Rogue grabbed her bag back and knocked out the robber. Remy stopped around a corner to let Rogue breathe. "Why'd you stop?" she asked.

            "You want to go on your own right?" Remy asked rudely. Rogue looked at him in shock and realized that she was still holding onto him. "Well?"

            "I…I want you to come with me." Rogue avoided the look on his face. Remy smiled at her respond.

            "Where to?" he asked.

            For once, Rogue gave a smile. "540 Cherry Blossom Road." Remy quietly gassed the bike. 

            "It's quite a long way…" Remy said as they were riding on.

            "It's okay…" Rogue closed her eyes and leaned her head on his shoulder as she held him tight. Deep inside, Remy was celebrating.

            Once they got to their destination, Rogue was half asleep holding onto him. "Rogue…" She didn't answer. "We're here…" She still remained silent. He unlocked her arms around him and turned around to face her. "Rogue…" he whispered.

            "Kiss me…" She murmured.

            "What?" He didn't understand the words that were supposedly coming out of her mouth.

            "Kiss me." She said again with her eyes still closed. Remy was shocked. All what he has wished for is just lying right there in front of him. He bent closer to her as she trembled at the feeling of his lips getting closer. But at about a centimeter away, he stopped.

            "I can't." Remy got off the bike as she opened her eyes. "Just the thought of kissing you again, it brings back too many things. And you have kissed Bobby…that makes it even worst." Rogue was speechless. "Come on, we have to get your counterpart."

            Remy knocked on the large wooden door. "What's her name?"

            "Um…Bridget Marks." Rogue cleared her mind as she waited for someone to open the door.

            Suddenly, a teenage girl with chocolate brown hair and hazel eyes opened the door. "May I help you?"

            "Um hello. Are you Bridget?" Rogue asked.

            "Yes. I'm sorry but who are you?" she wondered.

            "Oh, I'm Marie and this is Remy. We're from the Xavier Institute. Are your parents home?" Rogue asked.

            "Bridget? Who's there?" A woman asked. The tall woman arrived at the door with Bridget. "I'm Bridget's mother, may I help you?"

            "Um we're here from the Xavier Institute. I'm Marie and this is Remy." Rogue explained.

            "Oh I'm sorry about that. I wasn't expecting you to arrive so soon. Well excuse me, oh do please come in." She smiled as she led them to the family room, where they met Bridget's father.

            "Oh hello, I'm Randy, Bridget's dad." He shook their hands. Mrs. Marks introduced them to her husband. "Well we've been wondering when you were going to arrive."

            "We came here as soon as we could." Said Remy.

            "Well, going straight to our purpose here, how's Bridget? Is she doing well in school and everything?" Rogue asked.

            "She's doing fine, especially with her powers. There's some things that happen every now and then. You know, since she can blend in with the environment, she's learning how to hide it from everyone." Said Mrs. Marks.

            "We're happy to find that there's a school for kids like Bridget. Because she's only thirteen, we thought it would be a great idea to let her go to the institute." Mr. Marks smiled.

            Suddenly, Bridget was at the foot of the stairs with her luggage. "So when am I going?"

            Rogue and Remy smiled. "Need help?" Remy asked.


	6. Watch Your Back

A/N: Thanks for reviewing!!! It's good to know that people are sticking to my story!! J Anyways, don't worry I'll give you some Rogue/Gambit time soon…just be patient!!! Super long chapter here!! Here's chapter 6!

Chapter 6 – Watch Your Back 

            "Cool bike. Is it yours?" Bridget asked as Gambit loaded her luggage.

            "Nah. A friend of ours. You don't mind riding in there?" Remy pointed at the extra compartment.

            "Sure, always wanted to." She smiled.

            "Alright. Let's get going." Said Rogue.

            "Take care honey." Mr. Marks kissed Bridget.

            "Give us a call okay?" Her mother gave her a kiss. "We love you very much."

            "I know mom. I love you guys, I'll be okay." Bridget smiled. "Bye!" She got onto the extra compartment and fastened her seatbelt.

            "Here's a helmet." Rogue gave her a black helmet.

            "Hold on tight." Remy started the bike as Rogue held him tight. 

            "Drive safely!!" Mrs. Marks called after they waved back as they drove up the street.

            "So where are we going next?" John asked as he stared at his lighter.

            "Let's see, Philadelphia." Jean opened up Remy's folder. "Remy's sixteen year-old counterpart Jin Tanaka."

            "What's in it for him?" Scott wondered.

            "Umm…teleportation and quick speed. Kind of a Nightcrawler and Quicksilver thing." Jean closed the folder.

            "He's blue too?" John asked.

            "Oh no, no pigment." Jean assured him. Suddenly, they heard the sound of a motorbike's engine in the garage. "I think they're back." 

            "You're back pretty quick." Said Scott as he checked his bike.

            "Don't worry there are no scratches." Remy assured him as he unloaded Bridget's luggage.

            "Hi I'm Jean. This is Scott and this is John." Jean shook her hand.

            "Nice to meet all of you. Is this your jet?" Bridget looked around.

            "Yup. This is the X-Jet. This is going to be your home for the next couple of days till we get back to the Institute. So, make yourself at home." Scott smiled.

            "Come on, let's go meet your fellow new recruits." Rogue led her out the garage.

            "Talk to the Professor?" Remy wondered.

            "Nah. Probably sometime soon I will." Scott examined the muffler. "Very good."

            "Now what did I tell you?" Remy smirked.

            "This is Jasmine and Ricky. Guys…this is Bridget." Rogue introduced Bridget.

            "Hey what's up?" Ricky waved from the couch as Jasmine shook her hand.

            "Join the club." Jasmine smiled.

            "Well we have time to pick up another recruit…if we move now." Said Scott.

            "So who's going?" Rogue asked.

            "Remy and John. You guys ought to take a nap…it's good time too. We should be in Philadelphia in 2 hours or less." Said Jean. 

            "Man…after you, it's my turn." John sighed as he and Remy went to their room.

            "Well," Remy took the bottom bunk. "After we get the last recruit, we're home free."

            "Yeah…" said John as he laid on the top bunk, looking up at the ceiling. Soon John drifted into a deep dreamless sleep…

            Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. It was Ricky. "Um, Scott said to wake you guys up. We're almost in Philadelphia." He said as watched the two former Acolytes yawn.

            "Yeah…whatever. Five minutes." Said John as Ricky left. 

            "What he's making the new recruits do stuff for him now?" Remy got up.

            "Ah, you guys are finally up." Said Scott.

            "How much longer?" Remy asked.

            "About fifteen minutes." Said Rogue who was sitting next to Scott in the cockpit.

            "Oh." Said Remy. He still thought about Rogue, how it was so close to kissing her. He wanted to of course, but fought the urge to do so. Fifteen minutes later, they were flying over the city of Philadelphia.

            "Where does he live?" asked Scott as he was checking the coordinates in a screen.

            "Um, 1392 Justice Street, South District." Read Remy looking at his folder.

            "Have you found a place to land?" asked Scott.

            "Nope…haven't found space nor an empty building." Said Rogue.

            "Uh, oh over there. That's an empty lot over there, looks like a mini junk yard though." Scott raised an eyebrow.

            "Hey…as long as it doesn't stink!" John complained.

            "Can't stand a place that wreaks your odor?" laughed Jean.

            "Haha…funny." John said sarcastically.

            "Alright, got your communicators?" asked Scott. "Justice Street should be a walk up this street and to the right."

            "Yup…thanks." answered Remy playing with his deck of cards and putting it back inside his pocket.

            "Take care." Said Rogue on her chair, still not turning to look at Remy.

            John elbowed Remy. "Er, thanks. You too." He said as they both headed to the door. Rogue smiled.

            "So what's the background on this kid?" asked John as he kept his lighter in his pocket.

            "Oh he's sort of this rich kid in a way. Not a spoiled one though, it's just his mom is a lawyer. They live in some mini mansion or something." Remy shook his head.

            In the X-Jet, Scott, Jean, Rogue, and the new recruits were all sitting around talking. 

            "So you can melt metal?" Jasmine asked Ricky.

            "Yeah…" Ricky muttered.

            "Any metal?" asked Bridget. Ricky nodded.

            "Hey is the next recruit a girl?" Ricky asked Scott.

            "Be thankful. No." said Scott.

            "YES!" said Ricky rising up from the couch in between the two girls.

            "Great…" said Jasmine as she rolled her eyes.

            "Scott? Jean?" the voice in the speaker called.

            "Yes Professor?" Jean responded.

            "I have news for you. I have just checked Cerebro, and I've seen Pietro wandering the streets of Philadelphia."

            "Quicksilver?!" Scott asked. "What does he want?"

            "Obviously information. Tell Gambit and Pyro to be on for a lookout. He could be anymore. And specifically to Pyro…tell him to watch his back." Said the Professor.

            "Yes Professor, I'll contact them right now." Said Jean.

            "Oh and before anything else, how are the recruits doing?" he asked.

            Scott looked at Jasmine and Bridget, who were talking nonstop and Ricky, who was sketching some drawings on his notebook. "They're fine. They're here with us."

            "Good. Take care of them. I will contact you for any new updates." Said Professor Xavier as he finished the conversation.

            "I'll contact John and Remy." Said Jean as she pressed the button on the speaker that read 'Outside communicators.'

            "Yeah." Answered John.

            "Hey you guys there yet?" asked Jean.

            "Just about. Just arrived in front of the kid's crib. Talk about rich…" said John.

            "Okay good. Listen, Professor Xavier said to be very careful and watch your back. Pietro's around so keep a good eye out." Warned Jean.

            "Alright. Hey we're going in now, later." Said John. "So this is it?"

            "Yeah…1392 Justice Street. Looks like a good house too." Said Remy as he rang the doorbell. A maid had answered the door.

            "Yes? May I help you two gentlemen?" the polite lady asked.

            "Um yes, is this the Tanaka's residence?" asked Remy.

            "Uhh…yes. Whom are you looking for?" the lady noticed Remy's eyes.

            "Are either Jin Tanaka or his parents here?" he asked.

            "Jin is home. He just came from school, they have a one-week break. He's in the workout room right now. Where are you from?" she asked.

            "The Xavier Institute. Mr. And Mrs. Tanaka should know about it." Said John.

            "Oh I see. Please do come in, while his parents should be coming any moment now." They both entered the rather large house, and had entered the huge living room.

            "Wow…" John said quietly.

            "I'll inform Jin right now. Please wait here." She had gone up the wide stairs.

            "This place is…huge." Said Remy.

            "Hell yeah. I'd kill to live here." Agreed John.

            The maid had come down the stairs. "Jin would like to see you. There's a couch upstairs in the workout room you can sit on. Please follow me." They both rose from the couch in the living room, leaving the large room. They had gone up the wide staircase, which was very polished and cleaned. They turned left towards a hall, passing by a computer room, which had about three computers on separate desks. Then at the end of the hall, was a workout room.

            They entered the room, watching a teenage boy who had spiked black hair wearing a gray shirt that read 'JBHS.' He was practicing with the swing punching bag, throwing kicks and punches every time he got a chance.

            "Um, Jin." Said the maid. The boy had stopped the punching bag from swinging, and was breathing and sweating hard. "This is…"

            "Remy." 

            "John."

            "Er…from the Xavier Institute." Said the maid in a clueless way.

            "Thank you Esther, please close the door." The boy spoke. The maid had left and closed the door behind her. "Please sit down." He pointed to a leather couch beside a treadmill. "Be right back." He went through a door and closed it.

            "Damn kid works out even more than I do." Said John as he sat down.

            "You don't work out. You don't need it." Said Remy.

            "Well…" John looked at himself in front of a mirror. His body wasn't flabby, nor too skinny. He had a fit body. "I guess so…" he sat back down again.

            The boy had came back in, wearing a clean shirt now reading 'JBHS Warriors.' "Sorry, had to change. Anyways," he went back to the door across the room and checked outside and closed it again. "So you guys from that Institute?" he asked.

            "Yeah. You're parents talk to you about it?" Remy asked.

            "Yeah, couple of times. They're the only ones and my brothers and sisters who know about me…the maids, they have no clue. That's why we don't bring it up that much. Esther was saying something about your eyes too…" said Jin who drank a bottle of Gatorade.

            "Yeah…" Remy chuckled. "Anyways, what do you think? You wanna go to the institute?"

            "Tell me about it first." His eyes became a little bigger staring at Remy and John. They could tell, he looked very Asian.

            "Well, it's like a boarding school for mutant kids." Said John as he took out his lighter, playing with it. Jin looked at his lighter.

            "Boarding school you said?" Jin wondered. Remy nodded. "Damn. Shit, I didn't think my parents were telling the truth."

            "What's wrong with boarding school?" John asked.

            "It's just…" said Jin closing the Gatorade bottle. "I go to a boarding school. I mean it's cool and everything, you get to see girls in pajamas and stuff, but I thought it would be something else you know. Kinda, have some new environment or something. See this?" he pointed at his shirt. "Jefferson Boarding High School. And what, I'm a Junior now. Been there since Freshman year, and before that, been to International Boarding School ever since I was five."

            "Why doesn't your parents send you to a regular private school or just a public school?" John asked.

            "My parents got money. And they thought 'Hey, our kids deserve the best education, and we can afford it. So why not?'" said Jin. "My older brother and sister graduated from JBHS, and they had you know…powers too. My younger sister doesn't have any, and my parents are happy about it. They controlled their powers, but theirs wasn't as incontrollable as mine. Sometimes, I wake up in the morning in a different room."

            Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Jin?" it was Esther the maid.

            "Yes?" Jin asked.

            "Your parents are home. They're down in the living room." Said Esther as she left.

            "Come on, you're gonna meet my prosperous parents of mine." Said Jin as they followed him.

            "This kid's…cool." Said John.

            "Yeah…he's got a mouth and knows how to use it." Agreed Remy.

            They arrived down the staircase and into the living room. There was his parents, his father, was tall with light complexion and dark eyes and dark hair, that's where Jin gets his Asian look. Then his mother, looked more half Japanese, with chestnut brown hair, light complexion, except with light hazel eyes.

            "Hello. I see you've already met Brandon…" said his mom.

            "Ma, it's Jin. No one hardly uses my first name anymore." Corrected Jin.

            "_Gomenasai._" Said his mother. "Anyways…" she eyed her husband.

            "Oh!" said Mr. Tanaka. "Esther, do you mind?"

            "Yes sir." She closed the doors in the living room and left.

            "So, um…" 

            "Remy, and this is John." Said Remy.

            "Remy and John, you two are from the institute?" Mr. Tanaka asked. They both nodded. "Professor Xavier has called us before, and were more than interested to send Jin there."

            "I can assure you Mr. Tanaka, that the institute is a safe place and your son will learn to control his…powers." Said John.

            "Ah I see." Said Mrs. Tanaka. "Jin, do you think you would be okay if you go?"

            "Um," said Jin, who was sitting comfortably on a couch across the room. "I think so. I mean, it's like a boarding school right?"

            "Yeah pretty similar." Remy replied.

            "Okay…I think I'll be okay." Said Jin.

            "When can he leave for the institute?" Mrs. Tanaka asked.

            "Um Mrs. Tanaka, Professor Xavier sent us her for a reason. He thought that maybe he could leave today, we are trying to pick up all our recruits as soon as possible. We got two teams going around picking up recruits and Jin is second to the last recruit we're picking up. So it's your decision to let your son go now or…maybe a time far from now." Remy explained.

            Mr. Tanaka sighed while his wife was thinking hard. And Jin, was looking rather puzzled at his parents. "I think that it's best…that Jin should go now." Said Mr. Tanaka.

            "Now?" asked Jin. "Can I have a say in this?"

            "Yes honey." Said his mother.

            "If I go now, what am I gonna tell my friends? And…what about Alex? What am I supposed to tell her? You know, New York is pretty far from here." Said Jin. Remy and John knew, he had a point.

            "Honey, if you don't go now, what are the chances of your ever going there?" said his dad.

            "But…can you just give me probably…fifteen minutes? To call up all my friends, you know, tell them I'm not going back to school anymore." He asked.

            "Sure honey, go get ready and give them a call." Said Mrs. Tanaka. "Just try to make it quick." He ran outside the living room and up the stairs. "He has got a lot of friends, and it's gonna be hard letting go."

            "Mrs. Tanaka don't worry, I'm sure he'll make new friends at the institute. It's a great school." Remy smiled.

            "I supposed you're right but the worst of all is, he's leaving his girlfriend." Remy and John raised their eyebrows. "He's a very friendly person and he's been with this girl ever since the school year started, and he's pretty known in school. He's in Basketball, Soccer, and even the Track team."

            "Your son is very talented." Said John. "Does he…take up any martial arts? We saw him practicing with the punching bag earlier."

            "Yes…um he used to take up Tae Kwon Do, but he decided that maybe Kung Fu was his thing. But I'm proud he made a decision to join." Said Mr. Tanaka.

            After fifteen minutes, Jin came down with his bags. He looked like he buried his face in a tub of water. "I…I'm ready."

            "I'm so sorry honey." His mother stood up and hugged her son. "It's ok. Everything's ok."

            "I'll help you with your bags." John offered as he took the large sports bag and another backpack.

            "Jin, be careful. Call us if you need anything." His father gave him a hug too.

            "_Aishiteru_." His mom said.

            "Love you too mom." He kissed her on the cheek.

            "Take care honey!" she waved as they walked down the street.

            "You alright?" John asked.

            "Yeah…" said Jin.

            "Sorry to break it to you kid, but keep your head up. This place is not that safe at the moment." Remy looked around for any suspicious looking people.

            "What's happening?" said Jin suddenly his mood changed.

            "Some a-hole is around looking for me. He's one of those bad mutants." Said John.

            They were walking rather fast now trying to get to the end of the street to make a turn. But as they were about to pass an alley…

            "Hey wassup guys!" It was Pietro. He had dashed out of the alley smirking in front of them. John had pushed Jin back behind him. "Aww come on St. John. Who you got there?"

            "Nothing you need." Said John playing with his lighter in his hand.

            "Come on…where's Hailey? Just tell me where she is!" Pietro laughed.

            "You think I'm just going to tell you just like that?" John said still playing with his lighter. Jin looked around, noticed that hardly anyone was walking in the streets.

            "Well look her Quicksilver," said Remy reaching in his pocket with his left hand. "We don't like you. We don't want to join you. Haven't we said enough to tell you that you can't get what you need?" He pulled out a card now flaming and shoved it in Pietro's right jacket pocket and pushed him in the alley.

            "Where do we need to go?" Jin asked.

            "The next street down come on!" said John as he grabbed the bags. 

            "Wait hold on!" Jin said as he gripped on both John and Remy and brought them to the next street by teleportation.

            "Whoa!" John nearly tripped on Jin's bags.

            "Damn kid." Said Remy as they kept walking. 

            "Who was that?" Jin asked.

            "Just an old…friend." Said John. "Come on, we're almost there."

            "Hey anyone there?" said Remy speaking into his communicator. "Hey!"

            "WHAT?!" yelled a voice.

            "Rogue?" Remy wondered.

            "No it's the girl with white hair." She joked. "What do you want?"

            "Hey just wanted to say we're almost there. We've got a new recruit." Remy laughed.

            "Okay whatever." She hung up.

            "Rogue?" Jin asked.

            "This girl he ditched…now she's dating Mr. Freeze. Can you believe it? She went for Ice Cream man over the poker king." John muttered. Remy had wacked John in the head. "Hey!"


	7. Feelings

A/N: Sorry for another long wait…Yes…you will get the Remy and Rogue time right about…now!! Hehe, it starts in this chapter…;) R&R!!

Chapter 7 – Feelings

            Remy and John had arrived at the X-Jet with Jin a few minutes later.

            "See Quicksilver?" Scott asked.

            "Yup…tried to blow him up. But I doubt he did, probably ran as fast as he could after he got the card out." Said Remy. "Oh and here's our newest Recruit, Jin Tanaka."

            "Hi welcome. I'm Scott, this is Jean, the girl over there with the white stripe on her hair is Rogue, then those two girls, Jasmine, Bridget, and Ricky's in his room." Scott smiled.

            "Hey." Jean smiled.

            "Hope you like it here." Rogue waved. Bridget and Jasmine just waved.

            "Sup. So er, where's my room?" Jin asked.

            "Uh, you'll be sharing a room with Ricky. Don't worry he's cool." Said Remy. 

            "Um, Remy…" said Rogue. Remy looked back to feel his stomach flip over.

            "Yeah?" he wondered.

            "Can we talk later?" she asked.

            "Sure, I'll just show Jin his room." Remy smiled. Rogue smiled too, as she sat on the couch waiting.

            Remy led Jin to his room. Ricky was sitting by desk, again sketching drawings. "Hey Ricky."

            "Yeah?" he turned around to face the door.

            "You have a roommate. Jin, this is Ricky, Ricky, Jin." Remy introduced them.

            "Hey." Said Jin.

            "Cool. Wassup?" Ricky smiled.

            "Just moving in." said Jin.

            "You gonna be alright kid?" Remy asked.

            "Yeah. Everything's cool." Said Jin as he started unpacking.

            "I'll be outside if you need me." Said Remy as he closed the door behind him.

            "So you're from Philadelphia?" Ricky asked.

            "Yeah…" Jin looked at the bunk beds. "Which is yours?"

            "Hm?" said Ricky. "Oh, you can have the top. Oh yeah, just a piece of advice, try not to get into a deep conversation with Bridget and Jasmine."

            "Why?" he asked.

            "The conversation will never end, and they ask the questions, you don't." Ricky smirked.

            "Thanks." Said Jin as he threw the empty bag aside as he started putting his clothes in his closet.

            "Rogue." Remy called. "You wanted to talk?" 

            "Um yeah…" said Rogue as John laughed out loud. "Shut up John! Come on, inside." He followed her inside the room he shared with John.

            "Uh huh…" John was laughing stupidly.

            "Enough…" Jean rolled her eyes.

            "Okay…what did you want to talk about?" Remy asked as he closed the door.

            "Um…" she paced herself across the room. "I just wanted to get this off my chest." She took a deep breathe as Remy stared at her. "I…I still have feelings for you…" Remy's eyes widened for a moment but he kept silent. "I know that I'm with Bobby and we're together you know, but ever since you came, I couldn't make up my mind. I was so confused that I just wish that…you never should've left."

            "I'm…I'm sorry." Remy stuttered as he adjusted his gloves as it suddenly felt tight on his palm.

            "That really hurt me Remy, a lot. Now I don't know what to do. As much as I like you…I realized maybe…maybe things are not gonna be happening since—" Remy had pulled her by the waist and leaned towards her for a quick kiss. She felt the sensation jolt her throughout her body, but released her lips to look at him. "…Bobby's around." She whispered. She was still in his arms, staring into his red eyes.

            "You've learned to control your powers when you kiss huh?" he smirked. Rogue knew she loved his Cajun accent.

            "The Professor's taught me how hold my powers when I don't want to hurt anybody…it took a long time to actually get it." She smiled.

            "Yeah?" said Remy. "How long?"

            "…Ever since you left…" she whispered as she leaned in for a kiss. This time, Remy had felt a sudden rush through his body. He had his arms around her, moving his hand up and down her back. He couldn't resist it anymore. As they kissed, he was slowly pushing her towards his bed on the bottom bunk. They parted for awhile, where Rogue sat down on the bed as Remy sat beside her. They're lips met each other once again, this time, even their tongues. He leaned on her as she laid her back down on the bed. They felt the heat rising off their bodies, but Rogue suddenly stopped. "I'm sorry." She tried to catch her breathe. "I haven't held it that long…"

            "You should rest then…" Remy laid beside her.

            "…yeah." She embraced him as Remy was being careful not to have skin contact for now. A few minutes later, they both fell asleep.

            "We'll be going to New York early tomorrow morning." Said Scott as he came out of the cockpit. "Now, let's just call it a day."

            "Cool…Rogue better be out of the room." Said John as he headed to his room. He knocked on the door, but no one answered. "Hey! Anyone there?" There still was no answer. John barged in the door to find Rogue laying next to Remy. John made an obvious cough to make them aware of his presence. "Uhh…" John slammed the door behind him.

            "What the?!" said Rogue as she woke up.

            "Please stay in your respective rooms for the time being." Joked John.

            "Whatever." Rogue got off the bed and left.

            "Sorry about that. I just don't feel comfortable there's two people sleeping under  me." Said John as he threw his jacket to the chair in the corner and climbed up the bunk. "So…what happened?"

            "Er…stuff." Said Remy.

            "Aw come on Gambit, nothing happens in my love life so what's up? What did she say?" he asked.

            "Well…she still likes me…and still likes Bobby…and…" Remy paused.

            "You kissed her?" John asked. Remy was silent. John laughed. "Hah, thought so."

            "Shut up, you've got a big day tomorrow." Said Remy as they both went to sleep.

            The next morning, the X-team woke up around five in the morning to start their trip back to New York. 

            "Hurry up dammit!!" Rogue was knocking on the bathroom door.

            "Shut up I'm not done!!" said John from the bathroom. Apparently, he was in there for the past twenty minutes.

            "Who's in there?" Jean asked as she passed by.

            "John…" said Rogue as she continued knocking on the door. After fifteen minutes, John came out with his hair shorter than usual. Rogue's jaw dropped. "Did you just…cut your hair in there?"

            John held up scissors and a shaver. "What do you think?" His hair was shorter, and instead of his hair looking greased back, his hair was going in different directions.

            "What did you use?" Rogue stared at his hair.

            "Just hair gel. The bathroom's free, don't worry I cleaned up my hair." John headed straight to his room while Rogue was laughing as she went inside the bathroom.

            "Holy shit…" Remy stared at John's hair. "The hell did you do that for?"

            "Haven't had a hair cut in a long time. That's why I brought a shaver and scissors in case I had time to do it. So, I had time this morning." Remy was still staring.

            "Whatever." Said Remy as they both went out of their rooms.

            "So when are we leaving?" John asked as he entered the cockpit.

            "WHOA." Said Jean and Scott as they saw John.

            "Like it? I cut it myself." John asked.

            "You're kidding." Said Jean.

            "No really." John laughed. Jean and Scott remained silent.

            "Well…it looks pretty good. I like it." Jean nodded.

            "Thanks…at least someone thinks it's good." Said John as he took his seat. "So…when are we leaving?"

            "Oh." Said Scott. "Once Rogue's out of the bathroom. Taking off while she's in there…don't think that'd be any good." John laughed.

            "Shut up." Jean shook her head.

            "Okay, I'm done." Said Rogue as she brushed her wet hair.

            "Hey brush it somewhere else." John felt drops of water sprayed in his face.

            "Shut up." Rogue continued to brush her hair.

            "Sure everyone just tell me to shut up." Said John. Just before anyone said anything… "Shut up."

            "Morning people." Remy took a seat in the cockpit.

            "Okay, we're ready for take off? Everybody seated?" Scott asked as he buckled his seatbelt.

            "All set." Said Remy.

            "Camouflage mode?" 

            "Check." Said Jean.

            "Take off in three, two, one…" soon enough the X-Jet rose above the junkyard and gained altitude into the sky.

            "Where exactly in New York are we going?" Rogue asked.

            "Albany." Said John.

            "This is our last stop till we're finally home…" said Scott.

            "I'll go check on the girls if they're still asleep." Said Jean as she left the cockpit.

            "Okay we should be there in about 2 hours." Said Scott as he put the jet on auto-pilot.

            "I'll go contact the professor." Said Rogue as she left the cockpit followed by the rest.

            "Yes X-team one?" said the Professor from the speaker.

            "We're on our way to Albany to pick up the last recruit." Said Rogue.

            "Good. Where's John?" he asked.

            "Yeah?" said John.

            "John, be extra careful. I called up Hailey's parents last night, looks like you better be fast today, and persuasive."

            "What do you mean? What do I have to do?" asked John.

            "She's got detention today." Professor explained. "She's in her school today from eight to ten o'clock. And you have to either bring Rogue or Jean with you, it's an all-girls school. Don't worry, she knows you're coming" 

            "Shit." John said quietly. "So I have to pick her up from school?"

            "That's why you have either of the girls with you. They're going to find a way to get Hailey out of school, while she's in detention. You're main priority, is to get her out of the school and back to her house. Her school's really strict, so she cannot miss this detention. Do you understand?" Professor asked.

            "Yes Professor." Answered John.

            "Good luck and contact me once you're on your way back here." He hung up.

            "So who wants to go with me?" John asked.

            "I'll go." Said Rogue. "I always wanted to know what goes on in those prep schools."

            "Sure. Whatever." Said John as he took a seat in the couch. "So how are you going to get her out of there?"

            "Well she should be in a room right?" asked Rogue.

            "Yeah…but she's gotta be closely watched."

            "Then…" said Rogue. "I'll distract whoever's watching her while you try to get her to get out of the room…let's say…"

            "A window?" asked John. Rogue nodded. "Done that a lot before."

            "Okay, we're set." Said Rogue.

            After two hours of flying, the new recruits we're getting excited about going to school.

            "Man, I can't wait till we get there!" said Jasmine as she was talking to Bridget.

            "I wonder how many students are in that school." Thought Bridget.

            "We're almost there." Said Remy as he came out of the cockpit. "You two ready?"

            "Yeah." Said John as he stood up with his folder in his hand. Soon, they landed behind an empty house.

            "Remember, try not to take too long. You can walk a few blocks from here to her school and then take a cab to her house. Give us a call once you got her." Said Scott as he made sure the X-Jet was parked in camouflage mode.

            "Sure." Said John.

            "Careful." Remy told Rogue.

            "Don't worry." Rogue smiled as she left with John. "So we're heading to the school?"

            "Yeah, it's up two streets from here." Said John. They walked for about ten minutes, and finally got to the huge school beside a small park. "Is this it?"

            "`St. Clare's Catholic High School for Girls.'" Rogue read the sign. "I think it is." They both walked passed the open gate and into the yard. "There must be tons of classrooms here."

            "I think we should check the windows of the first floor, mostly detention rooms are on the first." Said John as they walked on the grass looking at each of the windows for any sign of a detention room. After ten rooms, they we're thinking that maybe the room wasn't downstairs. "That's ten sets of windows already!!"

            "Come on there's still a few…" said Rogue as they kept walking on. They peered into the next few rooms and finally found one occupied. There were about five girls sitting at their seats wearing their uniforms on a Saturday. There was also a plumped blonde woman sitting in front of the room. The girls were all writing non-stop on sheets of paper.

            John opened his folder to check Hailey's picture. She had shoulder-length black hair and dark eyes. He looked into the window again for a similar resemblance, and saw a girl three seats from the window, with the same face. It was obvious the picture wasn't recent, now she had longer hair, now dyed brown and streaks of silver all tied up into a ponytail. John felt a sudden jolt in his stomach. "I think that's her." John pointed at her.

            "Okay, just give me ten to fifteen minutes." Rogue ran across the lawn and back to the entrance of the school. John was still looking at Hailey, who was still writing down continuously on her papers, and looking at her watch from time to time. She then looked up at the window and gasped at the sight of John. John ducked just in time.

            "Miss Watts is there anything wrong?" the plumped woman in the room asked.

            "I…nothing's wrong Miss Jones. Sorry." She continued writing again and looked at the window waiting for another peak at John. John appeared again, and gave her the sign that he was going to bring her home. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

            "Um, excuse me ma'am." Rogue walked towards the plumped woman.

            "Yes may I help you?" asked the woman.

            "My sister goes to this school, and she has been having complaints about um…bullies." Rogue stuttered. 

            "Bullies? Does she know who that girl is in particular?" she asked.

            "Um, Hailey Watts." Said Rogue. Hailey played along and acted surprised.

            "I did not do shit!" Hailey stood up.

            "Watch your mouth Miss Watts!!" The woman yelled. She went to the corner and was searching for her glasses. "Do you have any proof?"

            "Umm…" Rogue signaled Hailey to get out through the window. "Yes…um, her locker. It's been really trashed.

            "Cheater…" One of the girls muttered under her breathe. Hailey held up the middle finger and the girl turned away looking disgusted. 

            "Well…mind showing me this locker?" the woman put on her glasses.

            "Sure…" Rogue held the door open for her and once again, signaled Hailey to get out.

            "IF I CATCH ANY OF YOU TRYING TO GET OUT IT'S TWO MORE HOURS!!!" The plumped woman exited followed by Rogue as she closed the door.

            "Hailey you fuckin cheater!" One of the girls called.

            "Well this was planned by my mom so I can't disobey her." Hailey laughed as she packed her bags. Hailey wrote on the board 'Miss Georgia "Big Bones" Jones.' John laughed as he opened the window.

            "Where the hell you going, joy ride?" another girl stood from her seat.

            "To another school. Hmm, let's just forget about that fight you caused shall we?" Hailey handed her bag to John.

            "YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE YOU STUPID WHORE!!" The girl yelled.

            "What is that noise?" The plumped woman asked as they walked in the halls.

            "Oh nothing…oh we're almost at the locker!" Rogue led her on.

            "Whore? You called me a whore? Who the hell lost her virginity at the age of 11 and is now in the process of abortion with her seventh boyfriend?!" Hailey yelled back. "Yeah…you did Shawna. Now shut the fuck up, cause I don't wanna see your slutty face ever again."

            "YOU BITCH!!!" Shawna took a vase and threw it towards Hailey. "FREAK!!!"

            Hailey broke the vase before it hit her and threw Shawna across the room. Hailey ran to the window, as she finally got out of the school.

            "Come on, we have to get a cab." Said John as Hailey ran across the lawn. "Okay…" John followed.

            "Sorry!" she said as she waited by the entrance. "Taxi!!"

            "Um…here's her locker." Rogue picked a random locker. "Wait, let me ask my sister what's the combination." Rogue was walking quickly through the hall, eagerly getting to the entrance.

            "Who's that Georgia?" the janitor asked.

            "I don't trust her…come on, let's follow her." The both paced Rogue down the hall. Rogue noticed they were following, so she ran for it. 

            "Get back here!!!" the woman yelled. 

            "Rogue hurry up!!" John called as they waited in the cab. Rogue ran down the steps.

            "Hey you're not going anywhere!!!" The janitor came running. Rogue got in the cab and locked the door.

            "DRIVE!" Rogue yelled as they left just before the janitor came to the gate. "Phew…that's done."


	8. Heading Home

A/N: Sorry took a long while again. School just started and I finally got to finish this. Well, if you got a problem with Gambit/Rogue, then why read this? Don't complain if I'm another author of these fics but I choose to write this alright? Okay…here's Chapter 8.

Chapter 8 – Heading Home

            "Um do you mind waiting a little while, we still have to go one more place." Said Rogue to the driver. 

"Sure." The driver told Rogue. They got out of the cab and headed to Hailey's house. John pulled out his communicator.

            "Hey." He said.

            "What's up? You got her?" Remy asked.

            "Yeah…we'll be there soon." Said John.

"Okay, just try to hurry up." Said Remy as he hung up.

            "Mom? Dad?" Hailey knocked on the door.

            "Hailey?" A lady called. She opened the door and rushed Hailey in. "You must be from the Institute. I'm Heidi, her mother. Please come in."

            "Thank you." Said John.

            "Hailey, I got your luggage ready." Said a man. "Oh hey, I'm Gerard, Hailey's father. So, how's everything in the institute?"

            "Well we haven't been there in a while, but I assure you everything's safe there. We'll be heading back there soon." Said Rogue.

            "Okay good." Her father smiled.

            "Honey hurry up. Just change once you get there. Come on get going." Her mother handed her a jacket. "I love you, and you better take care."

            "Yeah I will." She kissed her parents goodbye. "I'll call soon, love ya guys!!" she headed out the door with her bags. John loaded her bags into the trunk and got back into the cab.

            "How exactly are we getting to the school?" Hailey asked.

            "Oh." Said John. "We're just…" John didn't want to say in front of the driver.

            "Oh!" smiled Hailey. "Okay." She winked. John chuckled as he felt his stomach jolt. After a few minutes, they arrived back to the street where the X-Jet was.

            "Thanks." Said Rogue as she paid the driver.

            "So what exactly are we riding in?" Hailey asked.

            "We have a jet." Said Rogue.

            "Are you shitting me?" Hailey asked.

            "No shit." Laughed John. They got to the X-Jet, and knocked on some invisible object. Suddenly, the X-Jet appeared. "Here's are ride." They entered the X-Jet, meeting with Jean.

            "You guys okay?" asked Jean.

            "Yup." Said Rogue as she shut the door behind her.

            "Hailey, this is Jean. She's got um, Telekinesis and she can read minds." Said John as he handed Hailey's bags to Rogue.

            "This is Scott, or call Cyclops…whatever. Don't ever ask him to take of his glasses." John introduced Hailey to everyone.

            "Listen to him. Don't wanna try." Scott smirked. Hailey let out a little laugh.

            "This is Remy, Gambit…whatever. Just put it this way, our real names are not the funky sounding ones. Those are our X-men names." Said John. Hailey nodded. "This is Bridget, Jasmine, and Ricky…they're new recruits like you. Hey has anybody seen Jin?"

            "He's in his room." Said Remy.

            "Nice uniform." Jasmine noticed she was still in her uniform. "On a Saturday?"

            "Thanks. Um, we have to wear our uniform in detention." Said Hailey. "Hey, what's your name? You know…for X-men and stuff."

            "Pyro…" said John. He held our his lighter to start a little flame, then he formed the name 'Pyro' on his hands.

            "Cool." The flame made Hailey's face glow, which John couldn't help but stare. Hailey stretched out her hand, and touched the flames without a fuss. She smiled.

            "It doesn't hurt?" John asked.

            "No…" Hailey stared at the flames. John suddenly made it disappear.

            "It's cool huh?" said Rogue.

            "Yeah." Agreed Hailey.

            "Come on, I'll show you to your room." Said Rogue.

            "Hey John can you check on Jin?" Remy asked.

            "Sure." He was following Hailey and Rogue through the hall. Suddenly, a door opened.

            "Whoa!" Hailey suddenly stopped.

            "Oh sorry…did I hit you?" Jin asked.

            "Oh you finally got out." Said John. "Oh and this is Hailey, our newest recruit. Hailey, this is Jin."

            "Hi." Jin smiled.

            "Hi." Hailey blushed. Rogue looked from Jin to Hailey then to John, who was rolling his eyes. 

            "WELL," Rogue coughed. "Come on Hailey, still gotta show you your room."

            "Oh yeah…right." Said Hailey. "Excuse me." She said as Jin got out of the way. Rogue opened the last door on the right, which was Rogue's room.

            "Sorry, you've gotta share a room with me." Said Rogue as she put Hailey's bags down in the corner. "We should be heading to the institute sometime soon."

            "Okay, maybe I'll just stay outside. But I'll just change out of my uniform." Said Hailey.

            "Okay then. Just call if you need anything." Said Rogue.

Meanwhile…

            "You think X-Team 1 is heading back already?" asked Ororo.

            "Maybe." Said Logan. "Kitty!"

            "Yeah?" she answered.

            "Go give a call to the other team. Check what's the team's status." Said Logan.

            "Sure." Kitty nodded and went over to the speaker on the table.

            "Are you going to call up the other team?" Bobby asked.

            "Yeah. You wanna talk to Rogue?" Kitty asked.

            "Yeah…please." Bobby smiled.

            "Sure…" Kitty sighed as she turned on the speaker.

            "Hello?" the voice said.

            "Hey Remy." Said Kitty.

            "Oh hey Kitty. What's up."

            "Logan wants to know where are you guys. We're almost at the school." Kitty wondered.

            "Uh, we're heading there right now. How long Scott?" Remy asked.

            "Half an hour!" Scott yelled from the background.

            "Ya hear that?" 

            "Yeah heard it." Said Kitty. Bobby nudged Kitty. "Oh and could you put Rogue on the line?"

            "Why?" asked Remy rudely.

            "Cause I wanna talk to her." Said Bobby. Remy muttered something under his breathe.

            "Hey." Remy called Rogue.

            "What is it?" she asked.

            "Your boyfriend." Said Remy blankly. Rogue stared at him. Without a response, she headed over to the speaker.

            "Bobby?" she called.

            "Hey." Said Bobby. "Are you okay? How's everything?"

            "Um," Rogue looked at Remy. "Yeah, everything's fine…" She sighed.

            "You don't sound okay. Are you sure you're alright?" Bobby asked.

            "Yeah don't worry." Rogue assured him.

            "Okay, can't wait to see you. I love you." Said Bobby.

            Rogue hesitated and looked at Remy, who left the table. "I love you too. Bye." Rogue followed Remy into his room. "Remy…"

            "After all he is still your boyfriend." Said Remy not turning back to look at her.

            "I'm sorry…" sighed Rogue. She had no idea what to tell him.

            "How long till we get there?" Hailey came out of her room now wearing jeans and a blue shirt.

            "Scott said less than half an hour." Said John. "Just sit around, get comfortable." 

            "Thanks." Hailey smiled as John headed to the cockpit. Hailey looked around and found that only one person was there, Jin. "Hey."

            "Oh…hi." He smiled.

            "You mind if I sit here with you?" Hailey asked.

            "Oh sure." Jin made space for Hailey. "Hey what was up with the uniform earlier?"

            "Oh." Hailey blushed. They heard Rogue go back to her room and shut the door. "I go to an all-girls Catholic school. And I had detention for something I didn't do, and as the rules are, we also have to wear our uniforms during detention, even on weekends."

            "Harsh." Said Jin. "I actually go to a boarding school you know, the whole uniform thing going on too."

            "Really?" Hailey smiled. "Well, I heard the Institute is kind of the same thing, only no uniforms."

            "Yeah I heard that too." Said Jin. 

            "How'd you take it, you know, having to leave…" Hailey wondered.

            "Oh." Jin looked down and back at Hailey. "Not too well…had to leave a lot behind. You know family, friends…a girl…"

            "Oh…" Hailey said.

            "Hey…" John came out of the cockpit. He stared at Jin and Hailey talking. "Um, we're almost there. If you want a good view of the school, you can stay in the cockpit."

            "Sure." Hailey got off the couch. "You wanna check it out?"

            "Uh no thanks. I think I'll just wait till we're actually there." Said Jin as he remained seated. 

            "Um, ok." Hailey smiled at John as she followed him into the cockpit. She entered the cockpit to find Scott and Jean sitting on the pilots' chairs.

            "Hailey, you might wanna check on this side. It's a good view." Jean smiled. Hailey moved towards the window. It was a clear view of the city, and a spot that was the Institute, was surrounded by green trees and grass. 

            "Wow." Hailey smiled.

            "I think I'm picking up a signal of the Institute." Said Scott. 

            "Come in X-Team 1." Said Ororo.

            "Storm, we're almost ready for landing. Please keep the garage open." Said Scott.

            "Opening basketball court for garage…" said Storm. "Good to go."

            "Thanks." Said Jean. "Okay you two, might wanna sit down." John and Hailey took their seats as they prepared to land. 

            "Ah…we're home." Said Scott as he slowly landed the X-Jet through the  split basketball court. They had finally reached underground.

            "We're here." Said Jean. "Come on, let's get your bags." Jean followed Hailey out the cockpit. Rogue came out of her room.

            "We're home!" John yelled as he went inside his room to get his stuff out. Everybody got their bags out of the X-Jet, and met up with X-Team 2 and the Professor.

            "Rogue!" Bobby called. He ran towards her and gave her a hug.

            "Hey Bobby." She smiled. 

            "I missed you." Bobby leaned in for a kiss as Rogue reluctantly gave in. Remy saw the two of them mackin and led Jin inside the Mansion.

            "So this is it?" Hailey asked John.

            "Yeah…this is Xavier Institute." John smiled. "Classes don't start till Monday, so I can show you around if you want."

            "Sure!" Hailey smiled. Once again, John's stomach flipped. "This place looks really cool and I'm in for a tour."

            "So how's tomorrow morning?" John asked.

            "Sounds good. Come on I'll show you to your room. You're probably sharing a room with the rest of the new girls." Said John. They walked into an elevator, then stopped at the floor where the rooms were. "This is the girls' hall. I'm not supposed to be here but you're my counterpart so…I guess I can go this once."

            Hailey chuckled. "Whatever." They stopped at a room that had the door open and three beds cleaned and ready.

            "I guess this is your room. You're the first one here so I guess you can take whatever bed you want." Said John as he brought her bags inside. 

            "I'll take this bed near the window." Said Hailey as she looked out the window.

            "Okay." Said John as he put her bags on her bed. "Um, just call if you need anything. I'll be on the first floor. Oh and the Professor might call us so just try not to wander off or something."

            "Don't worry." Hailey smiled. John returned a smile and left her room and back to the elevator. John met Kitty in the elevator with her counterpart.

            "Hey John where you headed?" Kitty asked.

            "Downstairs maybe. Why?" John asked.

            "I was wondering if you can show Johnny here to the boys' hall…" said Kitty as she pointed at her counterpart. He was a tall teenage boy with short curly black hair, dark eyes, and a little hoop earring on his left ear.

            "Oh…sure. Why not?" John said as they went up to the boys' hall.

            "Thanks John." Kitty smiled as the elevator doors closed on them.

            "So what's your name?" John asked.

            "Johnny Park." Said Johnny.

            "Hey another Johnny. Park…that's Korean right?" John asked. Johnny nodded. "Ah. Trying to keep up with everyone here. We got two new kids, one Japanese, and the other is a mix breed of Asian-Caucasian. Oh and I'm John Allerdyce."

            "Okay so you're John…and I'm Johnny." Said Johnny.

            "Yeah. No one calls me Johnny anyway." Said John as they entered the new room. "So what can you do?"

            "You mean…" said Johnny. John nodded. "I can jump high and climb almost anything in a split second."

            "Kind of like a spiderman thing?" John asked.

            "Um actually no, I prefer not to be called that but not anywhere near spiderman. I don't have webs, and I can't stick on walls or ceilings." Johnny opened his bag.

            "Oh." Said John.

            "Attention X-men who were on the trip and new recruits, please report to my office for a conference in five minutes. I repeat, X-men who were on the trip and new recruits, report to my office in five minutes." Said Professor Xavier through an intercom.


	9. Immediate Training

A/N: Yeah I KNOW. It's been a LONG time since I updated. Well...I'll try updating as much as I can to finish this fanfic. By the way, been doing sum improvement on Remy ).

**Chapter 9 – Immediate Training**

"Hailey!" John knocked on the new girls' room. Jasmine opened the door. "Is Hailey in there?"

"Yeah." She replied. "Hailey!" She called as she and Bridget headed towards the stairs.

"Yeah I heard the announcement." Hailey came out of the bathroom.

"Come on let's go." John hurried her. "The last meeting I had I was late."

"Well we have something in common." Hailey closed the door as they both ran down the stairs to Professor Xavier's office.

They entered the office, which was crowded with the X-Men and the new recruits. "Ah just in time John." Said the Professor.

"Heh, trying to be earlier than usual." John smirked as he ushered Hailey to an empty seat.

"So is everyone here?" Professor Xavier asked.

"Yes Professor that's pretty much everyone." Said Scott.

"Alright then." Said Professor Xavier as he glanced at the new curious faces. "Welcome to the Xavier Institute. I'm glad all of you arrived here safely. Now, let's get straight to business. All of you start classes on Monday. You have seven classes. Now all of you are in different grades I believe, so therefore it will just be like going to Middle or High School, whichever level you're in. Seven classes, five of them are your typical courses like English, Math, Science, and all those necessary courses. The next class would be an elective, either Fine Arts or Physical Education, and lastly, Mutant Training. Of course everyone will have different schedules, but some of you might end up in the same Mutant Training. Are there any questions?"

"Um, Professor?" Bridget raised her hand. "Is there block scheduling?"

"Good question Bridget." Professor Xavier smiled. "Yes we do have block scheduling, on full schedules your classes are forty-five minutes, and on your odd and even classes the following days they're eighty minutes."

"I have a question." Hailey raised her hand. "What if we want to train more than the time that's give to us?"

"I was just getting to that Hailey." Said Professor Xavier. "All new recruits in this room are encouraged to use the X-Men training facility on Saturdays if they wish. So if the eighty minutes given to you for school aren't enough, you can always see either me or one of the X-Men to stop by for training. Are there anymore questions?" No one raised a hand. "Well then, you have the rest of this weekend to yourself and your schedules will be given to you tomorrow morning. You may all leave."

After everyone left the office, Scott approached Professor Xavier. "Um Professor, if I may ask are there any missions we have to do anytime soon?"

"Glad you asked Scott." He replied. "Nothing at the time, but I'm still keeping an eye out for any moves Magneto's doing. You've had run-ins with Pietro right?"

"Um John has." Scott answered. "What does Magneto want with Hailey?"

"Well, I have yet to find out her all her abilities." He thought. "Scott, could you tell John to bring Hailey over four o'clock this afternoon?"

"Sure Professor." Scott nodded as he headed out the door.

"So how 'bout that tour?" Hailey asked as she and John walked down the stairs.

"Oh yeah that's right." Said John. "Come on let's go outside."

"Hey John!" Scott called.

"Yeah?" John wondered.

"The Professor wants to see you and Hailey in his office at four." Said Scott.

"Oh okay. Thanks." John nodded as he and Hailey kept walking.

"We weren't late were we?" Hailey asked.

"Oh no he probably wants something else." Said John. "Anyways, these are the basketball courts. You know, the ones where we came in."

"Nice." She looked at a bunch of kids playing.

"Here's the lawn." John pointed at an open space of grass with benches near the trees and the walkways. "You can chill here whenever you're not in class."

"So..." Hailey started a conversation. "What grade are you in?"

"Oh, I actually don't really go to school." Said John as they went in the living room. "Here's the living room by the way. Um, I take some classes, but it's not a full schedule you know. I left this place when I was just about to start my junior year, so when I came back, the Professor arranged classes for me to take. So I don't necessarily have a grade you know."

"Oh I see." Said Hailey. "I think I might be going as a junior here, since my old school started late and stuff. I can't believe I'm almost sixteen! Damn I need my license."

John laughed. "So when's the big day?"

"August fifth...just a few weeks from now." Hailey replied.

"So when you were in detention...your school was over already?" John asked.

"Yup." Hailey nodded. "But apparently they gave me detention, so I had to go."

"I see. This is the kitchen, just go here whenever you're hungry." John pointed at the kitchen, where Evan was digging into Dreyer's Ice Cream.

"Speaking of which, I am kind of hungry." Said Hailey.

"Okay, I think there's some chips in the cabinet. Come on." They both entered the kitchen.

"Hey what's up John." Said Evan.

"Hey." John opened the cabinet. "Oh this is Hailey."

"Hi." Hailey shook Evan's cold hand that was holding onto the container of ice cream.

"New here?" he asked. Hailey nodded. "You a junior?"

"Yeah." Hailey replied.

"Cool, I might have you in some of my classes. Just ask me if you need help getting around." Evan was trying to get the last of the ice cream in the bottom of the container.

"Hey do we still have any chips?" John asked.

"Oh I think Bobby just took the last Doritos. There's some Fruit By The Foot next to the fridge." Evan pointed.

"That's all?" John wondered.

"Pretty much, unless you want to heat up some hot pockets or somethin'." Evan shrugged.

"Hot pockets or Fruit By The Foot?" John asked Hailey.

"Hot pockets sound good." Said Hailey.

"Alright then." John took out two packets of Hot Pockets and started heating one in the microwave.

"Here have a seat." Evan offered a chair.

"Thanks." Hailey sat down. "So what's it like around here?"

"Well it depends on where you're coming from." Said Evan. "What kind of school did you go to?"

"Um I came from an all-girls school." Hailey rolled her eyes.

Evan chuckled. "Well there's guys here that's for sure. But other than that, the kids here are pretty alright. We haven't seen any fights go down here, well except for whoever gets to watch TV but nothing serious."

John gave Hailey a hot pocket on a plate and bottle of pepsi. "So anything new since we left?"

"Ah nothing much man." Evan replied. "Just don't tell Aunt Ororo that I..."

"That you what?" Storm came in.

"Uh...that I could've gotten an A in my Chemistry test. Only I got this one question wrong...sorry Aunt Ororo. I tried." Evan lied.

"Well, you're doing much better Evan." She patted his shoulder. "Stay out of trouble!" She said as she walked out into the hallway.

John checked if she was still in nearby. "You lucky ass." He took out his hot pocket from the microwave and began eating. "So come on, what did you really do?"

"I was skating around the X-Men lab." Evan whispered.

"Where's that?" Hailey wondered.

"It's downstairs...you'll see it eventually." Said John. "So did you get caught?"

"Hell yeah!" Evan got up and threw the empty ice cream container away and put his spoon in the sink. "Dude, Professor Xavier was right there just when I was about to head to the elevator."

"So what? Detention?" John wondered.

"Nah." Evan sat back down. "I can't skate for three weeks, but that's alright. He's not going to tell Aunt Ororo. That's all that matters."

"Tough luck." Hailey chuckled.

Meanwhile...

Remy was sitting out in the lawn beneath a tree, staring at one of his cards. He was thinking about Rogue. Could they still get back together? After all she was still with Bobby, how was everything supposed to work out? He didn't really know Bobby, but still in a way wasn't really fond of him. After a few minutes, he saw Rogue and Bobby walking to a bench near the basketball courts.

"Ugh, _âne._" Remy thought to himself. Rogue and Bobby were just talking, but Remy was too far to even hear a word they were saying. Eventually, Remy fell asleep.

"Remy?" a voice called. "Hey Gambit."

Remy woke up. It was Rogue. "Oh. Hello m'sweet."

Rogue sighed. She sat down next to Remy, who was still lying on the grass. "I can't do this..."

"Can't do what Chere?" Remy wondered.

"Make up my mind." Rogue sighed. "I can't think."

"Yo' want my honest opinion?" Remy sat up.

"Sure...go for it." Rogue looked at him.

"Ever since I left, I was always hopin' that you were happy and some loser isn't in your life changing ya." Remy explained. "Girl, I remember you back then, Southern belle with dat sweet accent. It always gave me the chills. Now I'm back again, dat ol' accent's gone chere!"

Rogue sighed. "What happened to me?"

"Cheer up. Do what yo' heart tells you y'know? And you know I still feel for you, never forget that. I'm here for you." Remy smiled.

Rogue let out a little smile. "Thanks." Rogue gave him a soft and quick kiss on the cheek and left.

A few hours later, John called Hailey and headed to Professor Xavier's office. "Ah, John and Hailey just in time. I expect this is how it going to be every time I call you in for a meeting?"

"Yes Professor." Said John.

"Okay." He put his hands together on his table. "So Hailey I trust you've gotten familiar with the school?"

"Um yes Professor." Hailey nodded. "John showed me around just this afternoon."

"Ah good John. See you've been doing well." Said the Professor. "But anyways, Hailey I want you to relax. Now, I can read your mind and your memories...so just relax."

Hailey looked at John first and then the Professor. Professor Xavier closed his eyes as he looked through Hailey's memories. "Well now..."

"So what's the verdict?" John asked.

"Well...we have a lot of work to do." Said Professor Xavier. "Hailey, how often do you go into a trance?"

"Um, usually when I'm mad, rarely when I feel like it, and even sometimes unexpectedly. But luckily it never happened while I was in school." Hailey replied.

"We're going to have to do a little check-up in the X-Men lab Monday after school. It seems like your abilities are unstable. It's like they come and then they go." The Professor explained. "Although we know for sure that the trance has always been there, it's just what you do during trance is what is yet to be discovered. Don't worry, you'll learn to control them eventually."

"Thank you Professor." Hailey smiled.

"You're always welcome. Now you two carry on and enjoy the rest of the weekend before you start school on Monday, Hailey." Said the Professor.

"See ya around Professor." John closed the door.

Rogue walked in the hall where the boys' rooms were. She stopped at the fourth door on her left and knocked on the door.

"Bobby?" She called.

"Rogue?" Bobby opened the door.

"Bobby...I need to talk to you about something." She said nervously.

"Um come in." He closed the door after she had sat down on a chair next to the window. "What's wrong?"

She had to let it out sooner or later. She just had to. "Um, lately I've been feeling really confused."

"Confused? I don't understand." Bobby thought.

"Bobby, I'm confused of what I'm feeling." Said Rogue. "I mean, don't get me wrong I like you, we've been together for what, almost nine months? And I feel that, maybe I just need to let go and think of everything y'know?"

"It's Gambit huh?" Bobby assumed.

"Bobby you know how hard it was to get over him." Rogue said worriedly. "That's why it took me so long till I actually said that I'd go out with you. Then now, he's back again. Just when I thought that nothing could go wrong, he comes back. Now I don't know what to think!"

Bobby sighed. "You kissed him didn't you?"

Rogue's eyes soon became watery. She was so confused that she didn't know what to say. "Yes Bobby...I did. I didn't know what I was doing! I'm sorry..."

Bobby stood up and looked out the window and then his eyes went back to Rogue. "Rogue...I guess both of us need some time to think. But I just wanted to tell you, that I'm not getting over you anytime soon."

"I know." Rogue sighed. "I guess I better be going then."

"Um yeah, sure." Bobby opened the door for Rogue. Before she walked out the door, he gave her a cold kiss on the cheek.


End file.
